Atlantic Furies

The Women Who Risked Everything to be the First to Fly

‘Detailed and enjoyable.’ 5 STARS – Anne Sebba, The Telegraph

‘Compulsive … By the end of this thrilling book, it is impossible not to cheer for these magnificent women in their flying machines.’ – Kathryn Hughes, Daily Mail

‘Gillies’s scholarship is impeccable. She pieces together their lives from logbooks, archive scraps, and fading newspaper clippings, a mosaic of ambition, hope, heartbreak, and stubbornness … Atlantic Furies is also a necessary corrective to history’s omissions, a vivd, well-researched, richly told chronicle of six women who risked everything to cross the Atlantic when the world still questioned their right even to take off.’ – Fiona Sherlock, Irish Sunday Independent

“Though Earhart may be the most famous, this is a highly engaging group portrait that incorporates those lesser-known pioneers.” – Steven Carroll, Sydney Morning Herald

This is the astounding story of the six female aviators who battled to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by plane.

In the early 20th century, the dream of crossing the Atlantic by air was as potent as putting a man on the moon would be 50 years later. But many people believed women too fragile and lacking in the skills to endure the gruelling conditions of flying long distances.

In Atlantic Furies, Midge Gillies uncovers the stories of Elsie Mackay, Lady Anne Savile, Frances Grayson, Ruth Elder, Amelia Earhart, and Mabel Boll. These courageous, rule-breaking aviators risked everything to prove that women could fly the Atlantic. Some had lied to their families, others duped the press about their intentions and, ultimately, three lost their lives, but each pushed the boundaries of the possible.

Atlantic Furies celebrates the bravery, panache, and drive of these trail-blazing aviators, who showed the world that it wasn’t just men who could conquer the skies.

‘Atlantic Furies is a joy for anyone who’s ever gazed down from the window seat of a trans-Atlantic flight and wondered about the intrepid women and men who braved these long, lonely miles in the earliest days of flight. I loved these fascinating stories of aviation pioneers, and can’t recommend them highly enough to every frequent flier and armchair traveller.’ – Mark Vanhoenacker, Boeing 787 pilot and author of the bestseller Skyfaring and Imagine a City

‘What a delightful book! Written with verve, Atlantic Furies cuts across all the categories and all our expectations of the women who, in the Roaring Twenties, broke that singular glass ceiling: the aviation cockpit. This is the deeply transatlantic and transcontinental story of the pathbreaking women, from all walks of life, who dared. We all know the story of Amelia Earhart. Now we know the story of her compatriots and competitors.’
– Tilar Mazzeo

‘We now fly across oceans with careless ease, but it wasn’t always so. To appreciate today’s aerial freedom, we must understand those dauntless characters who went first. In Atlantic Furies, Midge Gillies offers a vivid account of the Atlantic challenge which captured the imagination of so many pioneers. The tale she narrates of the female aviators of the 1920s and 30s ― inspirational characters all ― is a fascinating one: in changing their own lives, they shaped ours.’– David Rooney, author of The Big Hop

Out now!